Tag: mac

Apple to Skip M3-Powered Mac Mini, Will Launch M4 Model as Soon as Late 2024: Report

Apple is said to be planning an overhaul of its entire Mac line of computers with the in-house M4 chipset capable of delivering artificial intelligence (AI)-based features. The Cupertino, California-based company launched its M3-powered MacBook Pro models and a 24-inch M3 iMac last year, before introducing new MacBook Air models with M3 processor in March. Apple is said to be working on refreshing the Mac mini, as well, but a new report says that the company may skip the M3 generation and launch an updated M4-powered Mac mini in late 2024.

The information comes from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, who had previously reported that Apple could bring an M3-powered Mac mini to market in 2024. In his latest Power On newsletter, however, Gurman claimed that Apple could altogether skip the M3 Mac mini and instead focus on refreshing the model with its next-generation M4 chipset.

In the Q&A section of his newsletter (via MacRumors), Gurman said that he was not expecting an M3 Mac mini to hit the shelves this year. This development comes a week after Gurman had claimed that M4 and M4 Pro-powered Mac mini models would arrive between the end of 2024 and early 2025. In his latest newsletter, he doubles down on the claim, explaining that the possible launch of an M4 Mac mini as soon as the end of 2024 would leave no “room for M3 models to come out before then, so it’s probably safe to say that those Mac desktops will skip the M3 generation.”

Last year in July, Gurman had reported that an M3-powered Mac mini would likely come out in 2024. Since then, Apple has refreshed its Mac lineup with the M3 chip but continues to sell M2 and M2 Pro-powered Mac mini models, launched in January 2023.

Apple debuted its 3nm M3 chipset with new 14 and 16-inch MacBook Pro variants, alongside a sole 24-inch M3 iMac, at its Scary Fast event in October last year. The new MacBook Pro lineup runs on M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max family of chipsets. Earlier this year in March, the company refreshed its MacBook Air line with the M3 processor, unveiling 13 and 15-inch models.

Apple last updated the Mac mini in January 2023 with M2 and M2 Pro chipsets. Currently, the M2 Mac mini is available in three configurations — M2-powered Mac minis with 8-Core CPU, 10-Core GPU, 8GB of RAM and 256GB SSD storage, and 8-Core CPU, 10-Core GPU, 8GB RAM, and 512GB SSD storage; and an M2 Pro-powered Mac mini with 10-Core CPU, 16-Core GPU, 16GB of RAM and 512GB SSD storage.

Earlier this month, Bloomberg reported that Apple intended to overhaul its entire Mac lineup with AI-focussed M4 processor. The company is reportedly nearing production of the next-generation M4 chip, which will likely come in three main variants.

Apple launched the iPad Pro (2022) and the iPad (2022) alongside the new Apple TV this week. We discuss the company’s latest products, along with our review of the iPhone 14 Pro on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.
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Apple Stock Value Surges By $112 Billion After Signal of AI Intent

The stock market has punished Apple Inc. this year for failing to offer a vision of where its future growth will come from. The shares caught a bid Thursday after the tech giant took a step toward providing an answer.

Apple’s decision to overhaul its Mac computer line to focus on artificial intelligence, as reported by Bloomberg, struck a chord with investors, sending the stock up 4.3% and adding $112 billion in value in its best performance in nearly a year.

“Any announcement that pushes AI into consumer hardware could be very beneficial for Apple,” said Anthony Saglimbene, chief market strategist at Ameriprise Financial. “However, the impact is yet to be determined.”

That will be key for assessing whether this latest rally can be sustained. Before Thursday’s announcement, the stock was down 15% from its record high set in December, wiping out more than $460 billion in market value. Trading close to its cheapest level in about a year, bargain-hunters clearly could justify taking a chance on Apple’s latest stab at AI relevance.

Sustaining this momentum, however, will depend on Apple’s ability to deliver on the promise of growth. For the Cupertino, California-based tech giant, that likely means getting AI into the iPhone.

The stock gained 0.5% on Friday.

Trading at Discount

“We think Apple will come back,” said Daniel Skelly, head of Morgan Stanley’s wealth management market research and strategy team. “It is hard to bet against some of the perennial winners forever.”

Apple has paid mightily for its recent stagnation. It’s one of the weakest performers among the so-called Magnificent Seven this year, trailing only Tesla Inc. That has made it relatively cheap.

The stock trades at 26 times earnings, a discount to megacap peers such as Microsoft Corp. It’s less expensive than the Nasdaq 100 benchmark, which has an average multiple of 27, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The underperformance reflects the lack of a defined AI strategy and several quarters of weak trends, despite the company’s strong financial position and proven revenue generation.

“It has all these defensive qualities, like its cash flow, balance sheet and buybacks,” said Skelly. “It will start outlining more clarity and visibility around its AI pipeline, and while it may not be this year, expectations are building for an AI-enabled iPhone. In other words, it is becoming increasingly attractive.”

Hedge Fund Enthusiasm

JPMorgan Chase & Co. sees rising enthusiasm for Apple among hedge fund investors, as its reduced valuation and AI tailwinds offset challenges in China and the company’s services business.

Hedge funds are eyeing the headwinds for an entry point while “increasingly warming up to the opportunity of the AI upgrade cycle,” according to JPMorgan analyst Samik Chatterjee, who has an outperform rating on the stock, in a recent note.

The broader hope for Apple investors is that AI will be the catalyst that spurs a re-acceleration of growth. Margins are tight as revenue has declined in four of the past five quarters, and analysts expect sales to contract by 4.6% in its second-quarter results, which will be released in coming weeks. While this represents some of Apple’s weakest growth in decades, the upside is revenue is expected to gradually rebound later this year.

“Investors have historically underestimated Apple’s gross margins and it appears that it is happening again,” Bank of America Corp. analyst Wamsi Mohan wrote in a note to clients. “We see gross margins at Apple headed significantly higher, driven by increased mix of services within the overall portfolio,” he added.

© 2024 Bloomberg L.P.

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Apple Plans to Overhaul Entire Mac Line With AI-Focused M4 Chips

Apple, aiming to boost sluggish computer sales, is preparing to overhaul its entire Mac line with a new family of in-house processors designed to highlight artificial intelligence.

The company, which released its first Macs with M3 chips five months ago, is already nearing production of the next generation — the M4 processor — according to people with knowledge of the matter. The new chip will come in at least three main varieties, and Apple is looking to update every Mac model with it, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the plans haven’t been announced.

The new Macs are underway at a critical time. After peaking in 2022, Mac sales fell 27 percent in the last fiscal year, which ended in September. In the holiday period, revenue from the computer line was flat. Apple attempted to breathe new life into the Mac business with an M3-focused launch event last October, but those chips didn’t bring major performance improvements over the M2 from the prior year.

Apple also is playing catch-up in AI, where it’s seen as a laggard to Microsoft, Alphabet’s Google and other tech peers. The new chips are part of a broader push to weave AI capabilities into all its products.

Apple is aiming to release the updated computers beginning late this year and extending into early next year. There will be new iMacs, a low-end 14-inch MacBook Pro, high-end 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros, and Mac minis — all with M4 chips. But the company’s plans could change. An Apple spokesperson declined to comment.

Apple shares climbed 4.3 percent to $175.04 on Thursday in New York, the biggest single-day gain in 11 months. They had been down 13 percent this year through Wednesday’s close.

The move will mark a quick refresh schedule for the iMac and MacBook Pro, as both lines were just updated in October. The Mac mini was last upgraded in January 2023.

Apple is then planning to follow up with more M4 Macs throughout 2025. That includes updates to the 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air by the spring, the Mac Studio around the middle of the year, and the Mac Pro later in 2025. The MacBook Air received the M3 chip last month, while the Mac Studio and Mac Pro were updated with M2 processors last year.

The M4 chip line includes an entry-level version dubbed Donan, more powerful models named Brava and a top-end processor codenamed Hidra. The company is planning to highlight the AI processing capabilities of the components and how they’ll integrate with the next version of macOS, which will be announced in June at Apple’s annual developer conference.

The Donan chip is coming to the entry-level MacBook Pro, the new MacBook Airs and a low-end version of the Mac mini, while the Brava chips will run the high-end MacBook Pros and a pricier version of the Mac mini. For the Mac Studio, Apple is testing versions with both a still-unreleased M3-era chip and a variation of the M4 Brava processor.

The highest-end Apple desktop, the Mac Pro, is set to get the new Hidra chip. The Mac Pro remains the lower-selling model in the company’s computer lineup, but it has a vocal fan base. After some customers complained about the specifications of Apple’s in-house chips, the company is looking to beef up that machine next year.

As part of the upgrades, Apple is considering allowing its highest-end Mac desktops to support as much as a half-terabyte of memory. The current Mac Studio and Mac Pro top out at 192 gigabytes — far less capacity than on Apple’s previous Mac Pro, which used an Intel Corp. processor. The earlier machine worked with off-the-shelf memory that could be added later and handle as much as 1.5 terabytes. With Apple’s in-house chips, the memory is more deeply integrated into the main processor, making it harder to add more.

The big focus for Apple this year is to add new artificial intelligence features across its products. The company is planning to preview a slew of new features at its June developer conference. A large swath of those features are designed to run on the devices themselves — rather than in remote servers — and speedier chips will help drive those enhancements. Apple is also planning to make AI-focused upgrades to this year’s iPhone processor.

The company’s switch to in-house chips was part of a long-running initiative known as Apple Silicon. The tech giant started using its own semiconductors in the original iPad and iPhone 4 in 2010, before bringing the technology to the Mac in 2020. The goal has been to better unify its hardware and software with underlying components and move away from processors made by Intel.

So far, the effort has been a success, helping boost performance and ease the redesign of devices such as the latest MacBook Air, iMac and MacBook Pro. Apple’s Mac chips are based on the same underlying Arm Holdings Plc architecture as the processors in the iPhone and iPad, enabling thinner products with better battery life and less need for cooling fans.

© 2024 Bloomberg LP

Apple launched the iPad Pro (2022) and the iPad (2022) alongside the new Apple TV this week. We discuss the company’s latest products, along with our review of the iPhone 14 Pro on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.
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Death Stranding Director’s Cut Confirmed to Release on iPhone, iPad and Mac on January 30

Death Stranding, Hideo Kojima’s surreal package delivery title that first launched as a PlayStation exclusive in 2019 and later ported to PC, has a new release date on Apple devices. The Director’s Cut version of the game is arriving January 30 on iPhone, iPad and Mac, with pre-orders currently open, 505 Games announced Tuesday. The studio, which was also responsible for the PC port, will bring the Kojima Productions‘ title to compatible apple devices. These include the A17 Pro-powered iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, and iPad and macOS devices running on M1 chip or later. Death Standing was first announced for Apple platforms at the company’s WWDC event in June last year, where Kojima showed off Mac gameplay and promised support for future titles.

505 Games announced that Death Stranding Director’s Cut will launch on Apple’s App Store on January 30, with a 50 percent discount for users who pre-order the game. In India, the discounted price for the game comes in at Rs. 1,999. The studio also confirmed that game will be available for universal purchase, meaning users would only need to buy it once to access it on multiple Apple devices.

Apple has made a big gaming push on its platforms in the past few months, announcing multiple AAA titles, previously only available on consoles and Windows PC, on its platforms. At its iPhone 15 event in September, the Cupertino, California-based company confirmed that graphics-intensive titles like Resident Evil 4 remake, Resident Evil Village, Death Stranding and Assassin’s Creed Mirage would be coming to the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max. Apple said that its six-core A17 Pro chipset allows its mobile devices to run AAA games at an aggregable framerate and graphical presentation.

The two Resident Evil games have already launched on iOS, iPadOS and macOS, with Resident Evil 4 remake releasing on compatible Apple devices last month. While Death Stranding Director’s Cut will arrive later this month, Assassin’s Creed Mirage is set to debut on iPhone sometime later this year.

Death Stranding was released initially on the PS4 in 2019, with a PC port arriving a year later. The game’s Director’s Cut version, with enhanced graphics and new gameplay elements, launched natively on the PS5 in late 2021. The genre-bending game is set in a post-apocalyptic world, where an extinction event opened a portal between the land of the living and that of the dead. The game’s protagonist, Sam Porter Bridges (played by Norman Reedus), is tasked with connecting scattered remnants of society living in bunkers across a desolate United States of America.

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Resident Evil 4 Remake Now Available on iPhone 15 Pro, iPad and Mac at a 50 Percent Discount

Resident Evil 4, the acclaimed 2023 remake of the survival horror classic from 2005, is now available on the iPhone 15 Pro and select iPad and Mac models. The game released on compatible Apple devices on Wednesday. While RE4 is listed for free on Apple’s App Store, accessing the full title would require in-app purchases. RE4 remake originally release for PC and consoles on March 24 and received critical acclaim for the visual and mechanical improvements it brought to 2005’s Resident Evil 4. The remake also earned three nominations at this year’s The Game Awards, including the top prize for Game of the Year.

Publisher Capcom showed off Resident Evil 4 remake for Apple devices at the iPhone 15 series launch event in September. The graphics-intensive title, meant to be played originally on PC, PS4, PS5, and Xbox Series S/X, will run on the iPhone thanks to Apple’s new A17 Pro GPU present on the latest iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max. RE4 remake can also be played on iPad Pro and iPad Air models running on M1 and M2 chips, and on Mac models with M1, M2 or M3 chips onboard.

The App Store listing for Resident Evil 4 went live back in September, with the pricing for the game set at a hefty Rs. 3,599. A small part of the base game can be played for free, but the full game would require an in-app purchase. The main game, however, is available on the App Store right now with a 50 percent discount, which brings the price for the base game (with bonus) down to Rs. 1,799. The discount ends January 17 and all purchases made before the date will include bonus attache cases and charms. The Separate Ways DLC and the Extra DLC Pack for the title are priced at Rs. 589 and Rs. 859, respectively.

Playing the game without a compatible controller would clutter the touchscreen on iPhone and iPad with on-screen touch control buttons. Apple, too, recommends playing the game with a controller. It’s also worth noting that RE4 save data cannot be uploaded and downloaded between MacOS and iOS devices. The game requires iOS 17.0 or later on iPhone 15 Pro models, iPadOS 17.0 on compatible iPad models, and macOS 13.0 or later on compatible Macs.

Resident Evil 4 on the iPhone 15 Pro
Photo Credit: Capcom

Resident Evil 4 puts you in the shoes of federal agent Leon S. Kennedy, assigned to rescue the president’s daughter. He tracks her down to a remote village in rural Spain, but finds a dangerous cult with horrific secrets and a legion of followers standing in his way. RE4, primarily a survival horror title, features third-person shooting with an “over-the-shoulder” perspective — a common gameplay trope in action titles first pioneered in the original Resident Evil 4.

In addition to the RE4 remake, Capcom also released Resident Evil Village, 2021’s first-person survival horror title, on iPhone 15 Pro phones and the M1-and-above-equipped iPads on October 30.

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Apple Announces 2023 App Store Award Winners, Hiking App AllTrails Named iPhone App of the Year

Apple has announced the winners of the 2023 App Store Awards, listing the 14 best apps and games across different categories. Fitness-focussed hiking and biking app AllTrails has emerged as the best app on iPhone this year, while miHoYo’s latest RPG gacha title Honkai: Star Rail has been named as the iPhone Game of the Year. Other winners include machine learning-powered editing app Photomator, souls-like action RPG Lies of P, and curated film streaming platform Mubi. Last month, Apple had announced a list of 40 finalists, based on their technical and creative achievements, for its annual App Store Awards.

AllTrails beat competition from the likes of language coaching app Duolingo and flight tracking app Flighty for the title of iPhone App of the Year. The app includes detailed guides and maps for hiking trails around the world. For 2023’s best game on iPhone, Honkai: Star Rail was picked over the roguelike sensation Vampire Survivors and retro RPG Afterplace.

Honkai: Star Rail was named iPhone Game of the Year
Photo Credit: Apple

“This year’s winners represent the limitless potential of developers to bring their visions to life, creating apps and games with remarkable ingenuity, exceptional quality, and purpose-driven missions,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said in the newsroom post announcing the 2023 App Store Awards winners.

On iPad, digital makeup sketch pad app Prêt-à-Makeup was named as app of the year. The app’s Face charts feature is helps makeup artists test out, plan, or register looks and combinations. On the gaming side, puzzle adventure title Lost in Play triumphed over Eggy Party and Pocket City 2 to emerge as the best iPad game of 2023.

On Mac, photo editing software Photomator was named app of the year, while critically acclaimed souls-like action RPG Lies of P won in the gaming category, beating competition from open-world RPG title ELEX II and classic point-and-click adventure title Return to Monkey Island.

Lies of P was picked as the best game on Mac
Photo Credit: Apple

Rounding up other Apple platforms, workouts app SmartGym and streaming platform Mubi emerged as the best apps on Apple Watch and Apple TV, respectively. Cozy adventure title Hello Kitty Island Adventure was named as the best game on Apple Arcade, the company’s subscription-based gaming service.

In addition to apps and games on all its devices, Apple also recognised five winners in Cultural Impact category, which acknowledges apps and games that spread a positive message. “This year’s winners encouraged users to learn and grow in an inclusive and accessible space, contribute toward a more sustainable future, and explore self-reflection and connection across generations,” Apple’s post read. Cultural Impact winners include digital toy room for kids Pok Pok, accessibility app Proloquo, surplus food sustainability app Too Good to Go, meditative puzzle app Unpacking, coming-of-age, hidden-object game Finding Hannah.

Apple also recognised generative AI apps as the trend of the year. From chatbots to planners, AI-powered apps have flooded the App Store over the past year. “Although many features are still in their infancy, they gave users a chance to see, firsthand, the technology in action and come to their own conclusions about the benefits and risks,” the company said in the post.

Apple launched the iPad Pro (2022) and the iPad (2022) alongside the new Apple TV this week. We discuss the company’s latest products, along with our review of the iPhone 14 Pro on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.
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Apple Announces 2023 App Store Award Finalists, Featuring Duolingo, Honkai: Star Rail and More

Apple has announced the 2023 App Store Award finalists. Each year, the App Store’s editorial team select and spotlight some of the best apps across categories on Apple’s Storefront. Apps and games on App Store are recognised for their technical and creative achievements. This year’s App Store Award finalists include over 40 app and game developers across 10 different categories. Awards are given out to apps across Apple’s lineup of devices, including iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, and Apple Watch. Popular apps like language learning tool Duolingo, professional video editing software DaVinci Resolve, and film streaming platform Mubi have made the cut this year.

Kicking off the finalists list is the iPhone App of the Year category. Finalists for the best iPhone apps of 2023 include the hiking app AllTrails, the language coach Duolingo, and flights tracker Flighty. The finalists for the best games on iPhone feature the retro RPG Afterplace, miHoYo’s latest Honkai: Star Rail, and the roguelike sensation Vampire Survivors.

The iPad App of the Year finalists are focussed on creativity. These include sketching app Concepts, video editing software DaVinci Resolve, and makeup designs app Prêt-à-Makeup. The iPad Game of the Year category features party game Eggy Party, puzzle game Lost in Play, and city builder sim Pocket City 2.

Finalists for the best games on Mac for 2023
Photo Credit: Apple

Meanwhile on Mac, the finalists for the best apps of the year include graphic design app Linearity Curve, photo editing app Photomator, and immersive productivity app Portal. On the gaming side, the finalists for best Mac games of the year are the open-world RPG title ELEX II, the popular Soulslike Lies of P, and point and click adventure title Return to Monkey Island.

On Apple Watch, the finalists for the best app of the year include to-do and planner app Planny, workouts app SmartGym, and weather alerts app Tide Guide. The best Apple TV apps, on the other hand, include creature collection game Bugsnax, training and workouts app FitOn, and streaming app Mubi.

App Store also listed finalists for the best games on the Apple Arcade service in 2023. These include city builder sim Cityscapes, the cozy adventure title Hello Kitty Island Adventure, and the puzzle embroidery app stitch. The storefront rounded up its app of the year finalists with Cultural Impact Finalists, which celebrate apps that explore new and diverse ways to connect. These finalists comprise a list of 10 apps, including menopause support app balance, personal finance app Copilot, environmental impact app Endling, and more.

Apple will select the winners from these finalists. The winners in all categories will be announced in the coming weeks, the company said.

Apple launched the iPad Pro (2022) and the iPad (2022) alongside the new Apple TV this week. We discuss the company’s latest products, along with our review of the iPhone 14 Pro on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.
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Resident Evil 4 Remake App Store Listing Goes Live, Priced at Premium Cost of Rs. 3,599

Listings for Resident Evil 4 remake’s iOS and iPadOS ports have gone live, showing a placeholder date of December 31. However, the mobile version is rather expensive, costing Rs. 3,599, matching the same default price tag as the mainline PC port. The game will be available with support for Universal Purchase, meaning the same app can be accessed across other Apple products you own, including the Mac. Similar to other Capcom titles, players will be granted a free trial/ demo before being asked to purchase the game for full content, hence it says ‘Free’ download on the App Store page.

Besides the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max models, any Apple device housing an M1 chipset can run Resident Evil 4 remake, with Capcom promising ‘beautiful and detailed’ graphics on the Mac during their Tokyo Game Show segment. On the latter platform, the game is expected to weigh 19.3GB, while the phone version is around 700MB, which is likely to go up upon purchasing the complete version. I find it hard to imagine anyone wanting to play this acclaimed survival horror title on a mobile device at such a high price point, let alone having to deal with the abundance of translucent control buttons on the screen that make for an unsightly affair. The studio dropped raw screenshots from the iPhone port last week, and two-thirds of the screen is covered with buttons representing the PlayStation layout. Bear in mind that the images displayed on the App Store are largely from cinematics and do not represent actual gameplay.

Resident Evil 4 Remake Review

Resident Evil 4 remake running on an iPhone 15 Pro
Photo Credit: Capcom

As per Bloomberg, Capcom is looking to expand into new markets for ‘long-term growth,’ with India being a focus. The company believes that within the next 5–10 years, sales in the country will surpass that of China, but such claims are heavily misguided. For one, the majority of Indian gamers play on mobile devices, which while Capcom is willing to build upon as seen with the aforementioned Resident Evil 4, mobile players aren’t really willing to pay premium costs for such titles. Not to mention, the most commonly used mobile platform in India is Android. Secondly, the regional pricing system for Capcom’s games is on the higher end, often contributing to piracy — it doesn’t help that the average Indian gamer does not make premium game purchases. Rs. 3,599 isn’t a small ask for many.

At the Tokyo Game Show event, Capcom also confirmed that Resident Evil 4’s free Mercenaries mode and the newly launched ‘Separate Ways’ Ada DLC are in development. Furthermore, the studio confirmed that Resident Evil Village is coming to iPhone 15 Pro phones and the newer M1-and-above-equipped iPads on October 30, just in time for Halloween. Oddly enough, the game is priced $10 higher than the existing Mac version, costing $39.99 (about Rs. 3,330). This also indicates the lack of Universal Purchase — meaning, those who own Resident Evil Village on the Mac will be forced to purchase the mobile version should they wish to play it on the go. Pre-orders for the same will go live soon.

Resident Evil 4 remake is coming to the iOS, iPadOS, and Mac in late 2023.

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Baldur’s Gate 3 ‘Big’ Third Patch Finally Lets You Change Appearance

Baldur’s Gate 3 is prepared to receive its massive third patch, which will finally allow players to change their in-game character’s appearance. Fans have been desperately requesting this feature since launch, and it’s scheduled to go live later tonight, September 22, alongside fixes for the performance issues in the densely-populated Act 3 segment. When the update goes live, the game will add a Magic Mirror to our camp, a stationary tool that can be interacted with to presumably open up a limited version of the creation menu. Patch 3 was originally due on Thursday, but developer Larian Studios decided to take an extra day for ‘thorough testing.’

The Magic Mirror won’t let you entirely change your Tav, preventing you from altering their race and body type, which makes sense given how much it affects relationships with other NPCs and general world interactions. That said, anything that’s appearance-based — hair, makeup, voice, pronouns, and such — can be changed whenever you like. Previously, you were stuck using whatever looks you picked at the start, with no way of fixing it once your Baldur’s Gate 3 journey began. This also means that if you created a short character, you will continue to remain as such till the end — or unless you start a new run. It doesn’t seem like using the mirror requires that you exchange some form of currency either, which is nice.

Baldur’s Gate 3 Review

Larian added that one cannot alter Origin characters such as Karlach, Shadowheart, Gael, and the ilk. “…they’re all very particular about their hair,” the tweet reads, as a joking remark for Astarion the vampire spawn. Patch #3 is also supposed to bring Mac support for Baldur’s Gate 3. Up until now, it’s been accessible via early access, which lacks a ton of content and changes that were present in the final/ main build released on PC, in August. Meanwhile, Larian has been fixing some quest-related issues, specifically of the murderous drow Minthara, whose 1,500+ lines of dialogue were disabled due to a bug. The team also added an alternate ending to the cheerful Tiefling Karlach’s arc, and there are also plans to expand the ending eventually.

As the PS5 version rolled out earlier this month, Larian enabled cross-saves across platforms, letting players carry over their progression from PC to console and vice versa — albeit only the last five save files would be synced. We can assume that Baldur’s Gate 3’s Mac version will be getting the same treatment. Plans for cross-play are also in the pipeline which should help players on different systems be able to engage in online co-op adventures together.

Baldur’s Gate 3 is out now on PC and PS5, while the Xbox Series S/X launch is slated for sometime later this year.

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iPhone 16 Pro Models With Larger Screens, Apple Watch X With New Health Features Coming in 2024: Mark Gurman

iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max will get slightly larger displays next year, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman states in the latest edition of his Power On newsletter. The company recently unveiled its iPhone 15 series of smartphones with the standard iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus receiving the Dynamic Island and a 48-megapixel camera that made their debut on the company’s 2022 Pro models. Gurman says that the iPhone maker will also introduce a new iPad Pro with an OLED display, M3-powered Mac models, as well as an Apple Watch ‘Series X’ upgrade with a new design and health features.

Expected to arrive roughly around a year from now, the iPhone 16 series of smartphones may include the purported successors to the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max. Gurman states that these Pro models will be equipped with bigger screens than the handsets that were just launched with a new titanium chassis. Apple is reportedly seeing “robust demand” for its iPhone 15 Pro Max model with shipments delayed to November in some regions, including the US.

The iPhone 16 lineup aren’t the only devices from the company expected to feature upgraded displays. Apple will also upgrade its 11-inch and 13-inch iPad Pro model with an OLED display, according to Gurman. It was previously reported that the next iPad Pro model is also expected to debut with new accessories including an improved Magic Keyboard.

While Apple introduced its first 3nm chip — the A17 Pro — on the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, the company’s transition to 3nm chips for its Mac computers is expected to take place beyond 2023, according to Gurman, who adds that the purported M3 chip is — expected to succeed the 5nm M2 chip from Apple — will arrive on new MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and Mac models.  

The iPhone maker announced earlier this year that it plans to sell its first wearable spatial computer — the Apple Vision Pro — in early 2024. At $3,499 (roughly Rs. 2.9 lakh), the company isn’t expected to ship as many units of the product as its more affordable devices. However, Gurman predicts that the device will help draw more customers for Apple’s other products, as it will be present at retail stores next year.

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